TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) advisory specialist panel convener Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳) on Monday (Aug. 3) urged the public not to overlook the long-term pandemic picture by placing too much emphasis on the country reporting zero coronavirus cases.
Following the news that a Belgian national tested positive for COVID-19 last week, many have expressed concerns over the potential for local transmissions since the source of the individual's infection could not be identified. Despite all the other infections reported recently having been imported, voices have emerged questioning the effectiveness of the government's pandemic preventive measures.
During a conference organized by Global Views Monthly, Chang stressed that good pandemic control is more important for Taiwan in the long run than maintaining zero infections. He pointed out that the CECC has been switching strategies based on the development of the global outbreak and that it is almost impossible to ease border restrictions without receiving imported patients.
Chuang said the majority of the public considers the country's pandemic situation to be worsening even though no local clusters have been detected. He urged the Taiwanese to focus on a high recovery rate rather than a low infection number, adding that panicking at the moment is unhelpful, reported CNA.
In response to speculations about the Belgian case, Chang admitted that it is very likely the patient was infected in Taiwan, but further investigation is needed. He said the patient had lost his sense of taste and smell while still in Belgium in March, and the positive test result suggests the virus had been inside his system for an unusually long amount of time, reported Liberty Times.